Spouse Visa – YDVISAS UK Immigration Lawyers and Visa Experthttps://www.ydvisas.com
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 07:17:40 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3UK Spouse visa ‘onerous’ and ‘unjustified’https://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/inquiry-uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/inquiry-uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified/#respondTue, 11 Oct 2016 17:38:39 +0000http://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified-copy/The rules governing the granting of a UK spouse visa have been controversial since they were initiated in July 2012. Since that time an estimated 33,000 people have been denied the right to live with their partner in the UK on the basis of their income alone. The UK spouse visa rules demand that the … Continue reading UK Spouse visa ‘onerous’ and ‘unjustified’→

The rules governing the granting of a UK spouse visa have been controversial since they were initiated in July 2012. Since that time an estimated 33,000 people have been denied the right to live with their partner in the UK on the basis of their income alone. The UK spouse visa rules demand that the British spouse must have an annual income of £18,600 (or funds equivalent thereto).

The rules are intended to prevent the migration of people to the UK who are not independently supported – in other words the legislation plays into government arguments as to migrants putting a drain on the UK’s welfare budget.

But since many of those affected are either at a formative stage in their working lives and/or students, those who oppose the legislation point to the fact that the cap not only discriminates on economic grounds, but does so in a way that is short sighted and misinformed.

The contention is that many of those who are currently denied the rights to a UK spouse visa will, over the long term – far from being welfare dependant – become economically active and net contributors to the UK economy.

Critics of the minimum income rule argue that as many as 47% of UK citizens do not earn enough to meet the criteria for a UK spouse visa. In these terms the law denies almost half of the population the right to marry someone from outside the UK and live with them in the UK.

For those affected, the law inevitably feels unfair, heavy handed and out of step with the realities of 21st century family life. In July 2014 the High Court overturned an appeal against the legality of the UK spouse visa legislation which had been described by the judge in an earlier hearing as ‘onerous’ and ‘unjustified’.

The legal minimum wage in the UK currently equates to £13,400.

YDVISAS specialise in all visa categories and are specialist immigration lawyers in the UK. Please contact the expert team at YDVISAS, should you need any professional help with your visa application.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/inquiry-uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified/feed/0The UK Government to target sham marriages and civil partnerships as a route to Settlementhttps://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/inquiry-uk-gov-target-sham-marriages-civil-partnerships-as-route-settlement/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/inquiry-uk-gov-target-sham-marriages-civil-partnerships-as-route-settlement/#respondTue, 11 Oct 2016 17:31:43 +0000http://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/uk-gov-target-sham-marriages-civil-partnerships-as-route-settlement-copy/The new provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 which will come into force from 2nd March 2015 will increase the marriage and civil partnership notice period from 15 days to 28 days in England and Wales. The rules relating to submitting a notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership will become a lot stricter than before … Continue reading The UK Government to target sham marriages and civil partnerships as a route to Settlement→

The new provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 which will come into force from 2nd March 2015 will increase the marriage and civil partnership notice period from 15 days to 28 days in England and Wales.

The rules relating to submitting a notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership will become a lot stricter than before and if there was a suspicion of the marriage being a sham or illegal, the relevant Registrar will be able to extend the notice period to 70 days. The registrars would also be under an obligation to inform the immigration office and to report any such incident to the Home Office. The Home Office could possibly detain the person involved or remove them if there are strong evidences of sham marriage or civil partnership.

These new provisions will only apply to those who give notice of marriage after 2 March 2015.

According to the Home Office press release:
“By extending the notice period and channeling to the Home Office all proposed marriages and civil partnerships which could bring an immigration benefit, the new system will give us much more time and information to identify and act against sham marriages and civil partnerships before they happen and, where they do go ahead, we will have the evidence we need on file to be able to refuse any subsequent immigration application in terms which will withstand appeal.”

These rules have been put into place in order to curb over stayer immigrants who resort to desperate measures in order to get their British Settlement. It can be presumed that these measures have been put in to curb migration after the present government failed to live up to its promise made in 2010 where David Cameron pledged to cut net migration by tens of thousands.

We shall have to observe if these measures taken by the Government could lead to any litigation under Article 12 of the European Convention which gives a person the right to marry.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2016/10/11/inquiry-uk-gov-target-sham-marriages-civil-partnerships-as-route-settlement/feed/0Immigration Authorities’ View of Family Lifehttps://www.ydvisas.com/2015/12/08/immigration-authorities-view-of-family-life/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/12/08/immigration-authorities-view-of-family-life/#respondTue, 08 Dec 2015 10:42:09 +0000https://www.ydvisas.com/?p=1743In November the Supreme Court rejected an appeal on behalf of two British women who had challenged the rule that their spouses must speak English before being allowed to join them in the UK. Saiqa Bibi and Saffana Ali had claimed that the rule demanding that their husbands must speak English before being allowed to … Continue reading Immigration Authorities’ View of Family Life→

In November the Supreme Court rejected an appeal on behalf of two British women who had challenged the rule that their spouses must speak English before being allowed to join them in the UK.

Saiqa Bibi and Saffana Ali had claimed that the rule demanding that their husbands must speak English before being allowed to join them on a UK spouse visa was a breach of their rights to family life. This rule is enshrined under article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights which insists on a person’s right to a private and family life.

However, a panel of five judges was unimpressed by their arguments and rejected the appeals on the basis that the language requirement for the granting of a UK spouse visa was not, in fact, in breach of article eight.

The women had pointed to the fact that there were practical obstacles to their husbands learning English but the five judges’ ruling went beyond the specifics of their cases and focused narrowly on the question of how the UK law interacted with the more wide raging mandate imposed from the European courts.

Earlier this year protests were staged against the government’s minimum income level of £18,600 for people to be able to establish a spouse visa. To date those protests have failed to change the government’s stance on an issue that affects an estimated 33,000 families, many with children who are denied the chance to grow up in a family environment that includes both their parents.

Both the appeal court’s rejection of the claims of Saiqa Bibi and Saffana Ali and the insistence on the £18,600 income threshold for UK spouse visa point to the highly unsympathetic way in which family relationships are currently viewed by the UK border authorities.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/12/08/immigration-authorities-view-of-family-life/feed/0UK Spouse Visa ‘onerous’ and ‘unjustified’https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/10/27/uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/10/27/uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified/#respondTue, 27 Oct 2015 09:42:40 +0000https://www.ydvisas.com/?p=1682The rules governing the granting of a UK spouse visa have been controversial since they were initiated in July 2012. Since that time an estimated 33,000 people have been denied the right to live with their partner in the UK on the basis of their income alone. The UK spouse visa rules demand that the … Continue reading UK Spouse Visa ‘onerous’ and ‘unjustified’→

The rules governing the granting of a UK spouse visa have been controversial since they were initiated in July 2012. Since that time an estimated 33,000 people have been denied the right to live with their partner in the UK on the basis of their income alone. The UK spouse visa rules demand that the British spouse must have an annual income of £18,600 (or funds equivalent thereto).

The rules are intended to prevent the migration of people to the UK who are not independently supported – in other words the legislation plays into government arguments as to migrants putting a drain on the UK’s welfare budget.

But since many of those affected are either at a formative stage in their working lives and/or students, those who oppose the legislation point to the fact that the cap not only discriminates on economic grounds, but does so in a way that is short sighted and misinformed.

The contention is that many of those who are currently denied the rights to a UK spouse visa will, over the long term – far from being welfare dependant – become economically active and net contributors to the UK economy.

Critics of the minimum income rule argue that as many as 47% of UK citizens do not earn enough to meet the criteria for a UK spouse visa. In these terms the law denies almost half of the population the right to marry someone from outside the UK and live with them in the UK.

For those affected, the law inevitably feels unfair, heavy handed and out of step with the realities of 21st century family life. In July 2014 the High Court overturned an appeal against the legality of the UK spouse visa legislation which had been described by the judge in an earlier hearing as ‘onerous’ and ‘unjustified’.

The legal minimum wage in the UK currently equates to £13,400.

YDVISAS specialise in all visa categories and are specialist immigration lawyers in the UK. Please contact the expert team at YDVISAS, should you need any professional help with your visa application.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/10/27/uk-spouse-visa-onerous-and-unjustified/feed/0BBC Adds Weight to Emotive UK Spouse Visa Campaignhttps://www.ydvisas.com/2015/09/15/bbc-adds-weight-to-emotive-uk-spouse-visa-campaign/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/09/15/bbc-adds-weight-to-emotive-uk-spouse-visa-campaign/#respondTue, 15 Sep 2015 08:21:07 +0000https://www.ydvisas.com/?p=1586The BBC’s recent focus on the issue of the minimum income threshold (MIT) for UK spouse visa applications is welcome. Despite an appeal court ruling in July that the current £18,600 earnings requirement is legal (overturning a High Court ruling made in 2013), and that questions of irrationality, inherent injustice or unfairness were beyond the … Continue reading BBC Adds Weight to Emotive UK Spouse Visa Campaign→

]]>The BBC’s recent focus on the issue of the minimum income threshold (MIT) for UK spouse visa applications is welcome. Despite an appeal court ruling in July that the current £18,600 earnings requirement is legal (overturning a High Court ruling made in 2013), and that questions of irrationality, inherent injustice or unfairness were beyond the court’s remit, opposition to MIT remains fierce.

The BBC report, which highlighted the plight of an estimated 15,000 children separated from a parent, pointed to the ongoing efforts of those affected by the current UK spouse visa rules. A further legal challenge to the limit, which effectively blocks the visa rights of spouses and children of those on low incomes, is to be put before the Supreme Court in 2016.

Under current legislation the MIT limit rises to £22,400 if a spouse and a child are involved – assuming neither of them are British or European Economic Area citizens – with an additional £2,400 required for each additional child.

The current situation concerning UK spouse visa requirements has given rise to what the government’s own appointed Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield OBE, has described as ‘Skype families’ with parents forced to try and maintain long distance family relationships over social media for several years.

The campaign, which to date has achieved only marginal media attention, can only benefit from the welcome exposure generated by the BBC’s reporting of this issue. Irrespective of the narrow legal argument advanced by Lord Justice Aitkens in his summing up of the appeal case in July, the wider arguments for the ethical and humanitarian merits of MIT are hard to justify. The Supreme Court ruling will be keenly awaited over the months ahead.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/09/15/bbc-adds-weight-to-emotive-uk-spouse-visa-campaign/feed/0Spouse Visa Issues Affecting Civil War Victimshttps://www.ydvisas.com/2015/07/30/spouse-visa-issues-affecting-civil-war-victims/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/07/30/spouse-visa-issues-affecting-civil-war-victims/#respondThu, 30 Jul 2015 08:58:14 +0000http://www.ydvisas.com/?p=1493The issue of UK spouse visa hits the headlines once again in July after a group of lawmakers submitted a petition to Parliament highlighting the need for intervention for those trapped in war torn Yemen. Among the 1.2 million people displaced because of the bloody conflict between Houthi rebels and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s loyalist … Continue reading Spouse Visa Issues Affecting Civil War Victims→

The issue of UK spouse visa hits the headlines once again in July after a group of lawmakers submitted a petition to Parliament highlighting the need for intervention for those trapped in war torn Yemen.

Among the 1.2 million people displaced because of the bloody conflict between Houthi rebels and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s loyalist forces, many are believed to have roots in the UK. According to reports, hundreds of British Yemenis are trapped in the country and unable to find shelter from the civil war because their families don’t have the necessary visas to legally enter the UK.

Compounding the problem is the closure of foreign embassies in Yemen, which means anyone looking to obtain a spouse visa is now finding it almost impossible.

To combat this problem and help British Yemeni residents bring their families into the UK, the petition has asked the government to relax current laws for those affected. Stating that it would help give the most vulnerable an escape route from the country, the petition is now being discussed by the Home Office as the war continues to claim more lives.

As it stands, anyone outside of the EU must meet a number of tough requirements if they want to obtain a spouse visa and join their partner in the UK. Set as one of the toughest in the world, prospective spousal visa applicants must earn at least £18,600 per annum or have £62,500 in savings for more than six months.

These thresholds have not only made it increasingly difficult for families to unite in the UK, but they have prevented hundreds of Yemeni nationals from escaping the civil war with their partners who hold a UK visa.

Although the government is unlikely to ease the current UK spouse visa laws in a general sense, it may draw up special exemptions in the coming weeks to ensure those most affected by the fighting can flee and find safety in the UK.

YDVISAS has team of specialist immigration lawyers. Please contact the expert team at YDVISAS, should you need any professional help with your visa application.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/07/30/spouse-visa-issues-affecting-civil-war-victims/feed/0Partner Visa Appeals Restrictedhttps://www.ydvisas.com/2015/06/19/partner-visa-appeals-restricted/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/06/19/partner-visa-appeals-restricted/#respondFri, 19 Jun 2015 10:31:27 +0000http://www.ydvisas.com/?p=1406The rules relating to appeals against refusals to grant spouse visas changed on April 6th 2015 and from an applicant’s point of view they did not change for the better. Even before that date only a minority of appeals were successful. Tribunal statistics show that, between October and December 2014, 39% of appeals were granted. The new system is … Continue reading Partner Visa Appeals Restricted→

The rules relating to appeals against refusals to grant spouse visas changed on April 6th 2015 and from an applicant’s point of view they did not change for the better. Even before that date only a minority of appeals were successful. Tribunal statistics show that, between October and December 2014, 39% of appeals were granted. The new system is designed to be even more restrictive.

Higher Hurdles

The redrafted formula only allows applicants to appeal on human rights grounds, which is a notably grey legal area and in any case one which the government is in the process of re-evaluating. At the same time, the right of appeal has been restricted to those who made their initial application on the basis of their family life in the UK. In simple terms, the appeals process has been written in such a way as to make it even more difficult for those not already entitled to live and work in the UK to do so.

To add to the difficulties faced by those who are striving to be reunited with their loved ones, the Government has stated its intention to establish a ‘non-suspensive’ appeals process. Non-suspensive appeals are also known as ‘out of country appeals’. In other words, there will be no right of appeal available to anyone within the UK. Anyone hoping to lodge such an appeal will have to do so from another country.

Practical Obstacles

Needless to say, the practical barriers which this entails will do nothing to make it any easier for anyone whose initial application was rejected to overturn that initial decision. Much of the decision-making process rests on the completion of complex forms which, if they are not filled in entirely correctly, can be immediately rejected – irrespective of the merits of the case. The need to get the initial application 100% right has never been stronger.

If you are planning to lodge an Immigration appeal for Spouse Visa, it is sensible to employ the assistance of an expert immigration lawyer to aid you through the process step by step, and increase your chances of being successful in your appeal. Contact YDVISAS via phone or email.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/06/19/partner-visa-appeals-restricted/feed/0How we helped our client to bring her widowed mother as an Adult Dependant Relative to live with her in the UKhttps://www.ydvisas.com/2015/02/05/dependant-relative-uk-visa/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/02/05/dependant-relative-uk-visa/#respondThu, 05 Feb 2015 17:03:04 +0000http://www.ydvisas.com/?p=1126One of our client and her widowed mother will be very soon living together in the UK. We challenged and won the decision against the Home Office where the dependent relative visa for her mother was refused on the ground that she would have had adequate care in her home country. We won the appeal … Continue reading How we helped our client to bring her widowed mother as an Adult Dependant Relative to live with her in the UK→

One of our client and her widowed mother will be very soon living together in the UK.

We challenged and won the decision against the Home Office where the dependent relative visa for her mother was refused on the ground that she would have had adequate care in her home country. We won the appeal for our client by challenging this decision at the First Tier Tribunal. Our client had British settlement..

The argument that we put forward were to justify the facts are:

1. The mother had no one in her home country who could take care of her

2. She had a disease which even though was not life threatening but would require to be monitored closely

The visa refusal had made our client very anxious and stressed. When she came to us, we assured her that we would put in all our efforts to win this appeal on her behalf and bring her mother to the UK. We successfully convinced the immigration judge that her mother had a disease which was required to be monitored even though it was not life threatening..

It was great to see a smile back on our client’s face and we wish to extend our services to anyone who would be in a similar situation and would want our expert advice and services regarding bringing their Adult Dependent Relative..

YDVISAS specialise in all visa categories and are specialist immigration lawyers in the UK. Please contact the expert team at YDVISAS, should you need any professional help with your visa application.

]]>https://www.ydvisas.com/2015/02/05/dependant-relative-uk-visa/feed/0The UK Government to target sham marriages and civil partnerships as a route to Settlementhttps://www.ydvisas.com/2014/12/10/uk-gov-target-sham-marriages-civil-partnerships-as-route-settlement/
https://www.ydvisas.com/2014/12/10/uk-gov-target-sham-marriages-civil-partnerships-as-route-settlement/#respondWed, 10 Dec 2014 05:38:50 +0000http://ydvisas.com/?p=162The new provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 which will come into force from 2nd March 2015 will increase the marriage and civil partnership notice period from 15 days to 28 days in England and Wales. The rules relating to submitting a notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership will become a lot stricter than before … Continue reading The UK Government to target sham marriages and civil partnerships as a route to Settlement→

The new provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 which will come into force from 2nd March 2015 will increase the marriage and civil partnership notice period from 15 days to 28 days in England and Wales.

The rules relating to submitting a notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership will become a lot stricter than before and if there was a suspicion of the marriage being a sham or illegal, the relevant Registrar will be able to extend the notice period to 70 days. The registrars would also be under an obligation to inform the immigration office and to report any such incident to the Home Office. The Home Office could possibly detain the person involved or remove them if there are strong evidences of sham marriage or civil partnership.

These new provisions will only apply to those who give notice of marriage after 2 March 2015.

According to the Home Office press release:

“By extending the notice period and channeling to the Home Office all proposed marriages and civil partnerships which could bring an immigration benefit, the new system will give us much more time and information to identify and act against sham marriages and civil partnerships before they happen and, where they do go ahead, we will have the evidence we need on file to be able to refuse any subsequent immigration application in terms which will withstand appeal.”

These rules have been put into place in order to curb over stayer immigrants who resort to desperate measures in order to get their British Settlement. It can be presumed that these measures have been put in to curb migration after the present government failed to live up to its promise made in 2010 where David Cameron pledged to cut net migration by tens of thousands.